Easter egg on face for agents who didn't open up

While many enjoyed a traditional choc-fest over Easter it turned out to be more of a weekend that laid the golden egg for Portsmouth agent Colin Shairp. And he got one over his less diligent rivals, too.

I had Sunday off but worked the other three days of the break even though other estate agencies were closed much of the time, says Shairp, director of Fine and Country in south Hampshire and Town and Country in Drayton.

Staff were here with me on Easter Saturday but I worked the bank holidays, too, believing that the late Easter and sunshine was a combination conducive to people getting out and looking at houses. As a result I've received accepted offers on properties worth £2.8m and another two offers totalling £1 million are pending, he says.

Shairp arranged for anyone who called in to the office - or even looked seriously' at properties in the windows - to be given an Easter egg.

I have one vendor coming to me to sign up purely because I was open at a prime time when other agents chose to close, he says.

His philosophy was that if selling homes is a people-focused business then you have to be there when people focus on what you have to offer.

On Easter Monday I had a sign in the window apologising if I was out conducting a viewing, which meant the doors were closed, but that didn't have any negative effect.